Observations from the end zone, real juice style

I had an interesting vantage point for this game – back corner of the end zone, one section over from the band, second row from the field.  In other words, Malcolm Mitchell’s touchdown ran away from me, but Jarvis Jones’ game saving play happened right in front of me.

You attend games like this and you remember that no matter how good hi-def TV gets, no matter how convenient the bathroom is and regardless of how comfortable the armchair may turn out to be, there is no substitute for being there.

And there is still nothing more beautiful to behold than the sea of blue from the seats abandoned by Gator fans in the last minute of a Georgia win.

I was going to post my predictions for the game, but waited too long Saturday morning and lost coverage.  It was probably for the best, as I only batted about .500 – whiffed on Georgia using the pass to set up the run and my fear that the offensive line wouldn’t hold up, got the Florida special teams superiority and Jarvis Jones’ return making a big difference right.  Anyway, on to the bullet points:

• Was this game chippy?  Chippy?  Yeah, when you’ve got coaches being restrained in pre-game warmups, you can say that.  The jawing seemed like it never stopped.
• Note to SEC offensive coordinators:  when Jarvis Jones pronounces himself ready to go, be afraid.  Be very, very afraid.
• Jordan Jenkins isn’t going to be something.  He already is.
• Best thing I saw from my vantage point was the Bacarri Rambo blitz up the middle that led to a sack.  Florida’s line parted like the Red Sea (caused, by some extent, by a reaction to Jarvis Jones starting his rush perhaps a wee bit early).
• The stats may not show it, but Mike Bobo deserves a lot of credit.  He learned from the South Carolina debacle and used plenty of max-protect to preserve his offensive linemen.  He had to nurse a quarterback through a very shaky first half and figure out what to do about a receiving corps that couldn’t hang on to the ball at times in the second half.  He stuck with the run as long as he could.  And at crunch time he found the alignment and play that the Florida secondary was vulnerable to.
• And, boy, how beautiful was that screen pass to Gurley?
• Speaking of whom, that’s what an SEC running back looks like.  Almost thirty carries without a fumble.  And that last big run was the final dagger in Florida’s heart.
• Grantham redeemed himself as well.  His blitzes were creative and effective.  He managed the defensive line depth as well as could be expected.  His troops looked prepared.  The defense did a beautiful job defending the wildcat, as well as controlling the Gator running game.  He accomplished what he set out to do, which was to make the Florida offense one-dimensional.
• Did Murray have a subpar game?  Well, he certainly had a horrid first half.  And it’s hard to figure out why it went so wrong, because he started out well.  Then his mechanics deserted him and he locked into receivers.  The first interception should never have been thrown where it was.  The second was a late reaction to the back coming open.  And the third may have been the worst ball I’ve ever seen Murray throw in a game.  But he didn’t turn the ball over in the second half.  Then crunch time came and he made the plays he had to make, often with the blitz in his face.
• Happily, I was wrong about the offensive line.  Those guys played their collective asses off.  They opened some huge holes in the first half in the running game, and, as a result, Gurley was the first 100-yard rusher the Florida defense allowed this season.  Murray wasn’t sacked.  I’ll take it.
• If you had told me before the game that Murray would throw three interceptions in the first half, that Georgia would rack up huge penalty numbers, that Florida’s kickers would outshine Georgia’s and that the Dawgs couldn’t convert third downs to save their lives, I would have sworn it would have been a long day.  That’s how good the defense played.
• The Rambo interception was beautiful.  You could see it coming as soon as Driskel made the mistake of throwing the ball across his body instead of out-of-bounds (at least Murray had enough sense to throw the ball away in a similar situation).
• Who was offsides on the onside kick?
• Zander Ogletree, pass receiver.
• That was Big John Jenkins’ best game of the season.  He actually forced the Florida offensive line into a weird alignment on an obvious passing play to make sure they could get two blockers on him.
• It seemed like Malcolm Mitchell made the entire Gator secondary miss him on that touchdown catch… well, except for Josh Evans who was busy blitzing Murray.
• There simply aren’t enough superlatives to describe Jarvis Jones’ day.  My two favorite moments came when Florida was forced to use a time out because Jones was set in coverage and the Gators weren’t prepared for it and on his second fumble recovery when he was signalling success before he’d even finished the play.
• I didn’t get Muschamp going for it on fourth down, not with the kicker and punter he had.
• The crucial fumble aside, Jordan Reed is a hoss.  Georgia really couldn’t find anyone who could cover him consistently.  That being said, he does have a habit of going airborne to get that extra yard and Jarvis made him pay for that.
• Somebody needs to educate the scoreboard operator on the difference between the result of a touchback in college and a touchback in the NFL.  That was embarrassing.

Okay, so where’s that Shawn Williams plaque going?

Two plays = one win

One receiver makes it to the end zone…

… and one doesn’t.

And that’s all she wrote.

By the way, I haven’t seen the broadcast yet, so what’s the story with that “War for the Oar” Twitter hashtag?  Please don’t tell me that it’s a Michael Adams plot to rename the game.

Mark Richt has lost control of losing control.

Mock me if you want for this, but I’m firmly convinced that the biggest deal about Saturday’s win is that Mark Richt has finally pushed the Georgia-Florida series into a new era.  Sure, it may have taken him twelve years and four Gator coaches to get ‘er done, but when it comes to this, late is definitely better than never.

I had hoped the 2007 win was the harbinger of change, but it turned out to be a mirage.  This time, it feels like there’s far more meat on the bones.  Here’s why:

• The math.  For the first time since Steve Spurrier set foot in Gainesville, the Dawgs have won two games in a row.  It’s almost impossible to underestimate the significance of that.  A single win here or there can be chalked up to random fate; two suggests at worst that the programs are on level footing.  So does the fact that the teams are even over the last six meetings.
• The manner of victory.  It’s the second straight year that Georgia controlled the fourth quarter.  Maybe that didn’t mean so much in 2011 when the Gators were banged up and trying to find their footing, but this season, we were told second-half dominance was a Gator strength.  The Dawgs took their best shot and gave it right back.  That’s how you plant the seed of doubt.
• The fan base psychology.  If you haven’t done so already, go read some of the Gator message boards.  It will sound awfully familiar.  I don’t think it will be hard to guess the number one topic Muschamp will be addressing this offseason at meetings with the fans.

I agree with Michael Elkon that Florida’s recent dominance in this series wasn’t all about Georgia’s psyche.  There have been a number of seasons over the past two decades when the Gators clearly had the superior team.  But there have also been a few when they didn’t and still walked out with the win.  Plenty of folks expected 2012 to be one of those.  That didn’t happen and Georgia’s world has changed a bit as a result.

Fabris Invitational results and standings, Week 9

etdawgfan nailed a 10-0 this week.  Impressive.

Standings for Week 9
Rank	Selection	Adj Scores	Picks Edit	W-L	Pts	Tie Breaker ND-OK 30-13	Tie Breaker Winner
1	etdawgfan’s picks			10-0	10	20-31
2	DawgChad			9-1	9	27-24
2	VanGordersMoustache’s picks			9-1	9	34-32
2	gitaftertheirbuttocks’s picks			9-1	9	21-18
2	uganewt’s picks			9-1	9	20-10
2	dawg521’s picks			9-1	9	34-41
2	ET Blames Bobo			9-1	9	20-28
2	4boysbrew’s picks			9-1	9	17-24
2	What’s The Good Word’s picks			9-1	9	17-35
2	dawg92’s picks			9-1	9	13-17

Overall standings still show plenty of folks in contention for the coveted season title.

Overall Standings Through Week 9
Rank	Selection	W-L	Pts	Tie Breaker Winner
1	4boysbrew’s picks	58-32	58
2	UGA-DAWG-in-TN’s picks	56-34	56
3	etdawgfan’s picks	55-35	55
4	weasom’s picks	54-36	54
4	DawgRocker hates the spread	54-36	54
4	ImOpen!’s picks	54-36	54
4	pcfrailey’s picks	54-36	54
8	shadrach’s picks	53-37	53

A 7-3 week vaults me into 39th place overall.  I’ve got you right where I want you, bitches.

My SEC Power Poll ballot, Week 9

It’s a good thing this is a power poll and not a pure resume ranking deal, because we’ve got the mother of all tail-chasing deals going on in the 2-5 slots after Georgia took out Florida.

Not that Nick Saban has time for any of that shit, of course.

1. Alabama.  Does anybody outside of Baton Rouge really believe that the Tide is going to lose this Saturday?  And even those folks are hoping more than believing.
2. LSU.  The Tigers get the bye week bounce.
3. Georgia.  If Jarvis Jones were an SEC team, I’d probably rank him second.
4. Florida.  When the Gators can’t run the football, they’re in trouble.
5. South Carolina.  Georgia made sure the ‘Cocks weren’t mathematically eliminated from the SEC East race, but that’s small consolation for the OBC right now.
6. Texas A&M.  The Aggies belong more in the SEC than Auburn does.
7. Mississippi State.  Welcome to the real world, gentlemen.
8. Ole Miss.  That Hugh Freeze has this bunch on the cusp of bowl eligibility borders on the miraculous.
9. Vanderbilt.  Beat a cupcake to stay in the bowl hunt.
10. Missouri.  Everybody beats Kentucky, but still, a conference win’s a win.
11. Tennessee.  Four straight ranked teams, four straight losses.
12. Arkansas.  So much for momentum.
13. Auburn.  I’d call ’em a dumpster fire, but that would be unkind to dumpster fires everywhere.
14. Kentucky.  How bad are you when you can’t even beat out this year’s Auburn team for thirteenth in the conference?